THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	158
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		Proposed

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Urging the President of the United States, and all members of any current and future administration, to abide by the laws of the United States of America, including by complying with orders issued by the United States courts.

     WHEREAS, we the people of the United States of America are each of us subject to the United States Constitution and to the nation's laws; and

     WHEREAS, every person subject to the nation's laws is expected to follow those laws, and is punished if he or she breaks those laws; and

     WHEREAS, the President of the United States has an especially sacred duty to uphold the nation's laws, as it is the President's responsibility to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" under Article II of the United States Constitution; and

     WHEREAS, under the United States Constitution no person, including the President of the United States, may disregard or disobey laws which he or she considers unfair, unjust, or otherwise illegitimate; and

     WHEREAS, the founding fathers, aware of the risks posed by a government headed by a single, all-powerful king, intentionally created "a government of laws, not of men," as John Adams described it; and

     WHEREAS, the founders divided the power of government to make, enforce, and interpret the laws among three coequal and independent branches of government; and

     WHEREAS, the judicial branch of the United States government is a check on the awesome power of the other two branches of government, and which, unlike the legislative and executive branches, has no power other than its power to exercise its judgment over issues of federal law; and

     WHEREAS, the structure of the judicial branch led Alexander Hamilton to declare in the Federalist Papers that "the judiciary ... will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution"; and

     WHEREAS, despite the brilliant design of the United States judiciary created by the founding fathers, the President of the United States and his cabinet secretaries have repeatedly attacked the judiciary simply for carrying out its duty to interpret the laws and United States Constitution, as a check on the power of the executive branch of government; and

     WHEREAS, the President and his cabinet secretaries have not only attacked the normal operation of the judiciary, but have also repeatedly, openly, and shamelessly refused to comply with lawful court orders; and

     WHEREAS, despite a lawful court order entered by a federal judge directing the President and his administration to stop freezing federal funds lawfully allocated by Congress, several federal agencies have continued to freeze funding; and

     WHEREAS, despite a lawful court order entered by a federal judge directing the President and his administration to resume refugee admissions, given that only Congress, and not the President, can eliminate a program that was created by Congress, the President has failed to reimplement the program; and

     WHEREAS, despite a lawful court order entered by a federal judge directing the President and his administration to stop any deportations under the alleged authority of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, including by turning around airborne planes carrying deportees if necessary, the President and his administration allowed the deportations to go forward and then openly bragged about defying the judge's order, and have to date failed to offer any justification for these actions, despite additional court orders requiring them to do so; and

     WHEREAS, some of these orders have been nationwide injunctions, which apply to the government's challenged actions across the country, and which have been employed by the nation's federal courts for at least six decades, including extensively during the Obama, Biden, and previous Trump administrations; and

     WHEREAS, nationwide injunctions are necessary in certain circumstances, including where a lesser injunction would fail to provide complete relief to the parties, to protect nonparties from irreparable injury, or would otherwise be unworkable, as both the Fifth Circuit and Ninth Circuit have recognized; and

     WHEREAS, legal community leaders across the United States of America have called for all government officials to follow the law and court orders; and

     WHEREAS, some members of Congress have insisted that the President of the United States of America must comply with lawful court orders; and

     WHEREAS, Republican leaders in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (South Dakota), James Lankford (Oklahoma), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), as well as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (Iowa), and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Josh Hawley (Missouri) and John Kennedy (Louisiana), also expect the President of the United States of America to follow judicial orders; and

     WHEREAS, Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Missouri), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said

"I think outright, ...[you cannot ignore the decision].  Andrew Jackson did that infamously.  He was wrong on that.  That was the Trail of Tears.  That was lawless.  That was wrong." (emphasis added); and

     WHEREAS, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and other Senate committees said:

"The White House should comply with court rulings. The Congress should comply.  We have a judicial system.  If you don't like the ruling, you can appeal the ruling and you can follow that through.  But we are a nation of laws and it is not necessarily for you or I to be the final arbiter here.  This is why we entrust the judiciary with this responsibility."; and

     WHEREAS, members of the judicial branch have similarly cautioned that the President must comply with lawful court orders, including former federal Judge Paul Grimm, who stated that "without those checks and balances, we don't have the rule of law.  No right of any individual in this country is safe"; and

     WHEREAS, in response to attacks on the judiciary's legitimate power, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court was recently forced to state that "for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.  The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose"; and

     WHEREAS, the proper response to an unfavorable court decision is also appeal, not the refusal to comply with that order; and

     WHEREAS, it is the duty of the President of the United States, like all good people in the United States, to follow the law as set forth by the United States Congress and interpreted by the United States courts, whether he or she likes or agrees with those laws or the decisions of courts interpreting those laws; and

     WHEREAS, the President of the United States, as well as any duly appointed representative of the President, has an obligation to be truthful and forthcoming with a judge in a court of law, just as any other American citizen would; and

     WHEREAS, under the United States's laws and Constitution, any person who refuses to comply with lawful court orders, or who otherwise willfully obstructs the court's efforts to pursue truth and justice, is subject to penalties, punishments, and other consequences to the extent permitted under the law; and

     WHEREAS, if the President or any other government officer is allowed to simply disregard federal law or a lawful court order, the nation's elected leaders have abandoned the bedrock principles of the United States Constitution that inspired the founding fathers to create this great Nation in the first place; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the House of Representatives concurring, that the President of the United States, and all members of any current and future administration, are urged to abide by the laws of the United States, including by complying with orders issued by the United States courts; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Report Title: 

United States President; Rule of Law; Court Orders; Judicial Branch